Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seattle. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Doors' Jim Morrison melts down again in Seatte, ca 1970

By Jack Brummet, Music History Ed.



There is a very good piece on John Densmore's website on The Doors final appearance in Seattle. It was a disaster (as was their previous appearance at a festival). 

Only 5,000 seats in the Coliseum were filled. At one point Morrison claims, "You know, I haven't been to Seattle in about two years; And good riddance they say." The audience corrected him, reminding him of last year's Seattle Pop Festival (another disaster).  He then asked "Was it a year ago?" 




According to my friend Francis, the audience was unrelenting and kept calling out for "Light My Fire," which he swore he would never perform again.  The audience was also asking him to "Play Miami" referring to the show and his subsequent arrest for indecent exposure.  Jim tried to infuse some humor into the situation with, "Well you know, driving into Seattle from the airport... Seattle reminds you of a late 1930s version of twenty years in the future. You know what I mean?!

Francis said he was pissed both figuratively (e.g., very drunk) and literally.  The power was pulled in the middle of a song, and The Doors walked off stage.



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Saturday, April 04, 2015

Seattle rain and the Beaufort Scale

By Jack Brummet, Hydration Ed.




Seattle, Washington is well-known for its rain, but many cities have greater rainfall than Seattle (especially in the east, and particularly Louisiana and Alabama [it's the Gulf]. It rains very often in Seattle, but it is often a drizzle or sprinkle. The rain in other cities is often heavier, causing them to have larger averages.

Tonight, the sky is dotted with cirrus clouds. Sometime in the next few hours, I expect we will see them converge. . .rain is predicted for tomorrow. The clouds tonight are scattered enough that you can still see numerous stars and glimpses of the moon.

The annual rainfall in Seattle ranges is almost always between 37 and 39 inches.


Average Rainfall in Seattle by month:
Jan 5.13
Feb 4.18
Mar 3.75
Apr 2.59
May 1.78
June 1.49
July 0.79
Aug 1.02
Sep 1.63
Oct 3.19
Nov 5.90
Dec 5.62
Total 37.07


According to Livescience.com, Seattle is actually pretty far down the list of rainy cities, with a little over three feet of rain. Many cities in Florida and Louisiana get a couple feet more rain than Seattle, and there are cities in Alaska and Hawaii that receive over eight feet of rain annually. New York City gets at least three more inches of rain than Seattle does, annually; those inches, however, fall on far fewer days.


The Top Ten US cities for rainfall:

Mobile, Alabama--67 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days


Pensacola, Florida--65 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual
rainy days


New Orleans, Louisiana--64 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average
annual rainy days


West Palm Beach, Florida--63 inches average annual rainfall; 58 average
annual rainy days


Lafayette, Louisiana--62 inches average annual rainfall; 55 average annual
rainy days


Baton Rouge, Louisiana--62 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average
annual rainy days


Miami, Florida--62 inches average annual rainfall; 57 average annual rainy days

Port Arthur, Texas--61 inches average annual rainfall; 51 average annual
rainy days


Tallahassee, Florida--61 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual
rainy days


Lake Charles, Louisiana [Lake Charles is also the name of my favorite Lucinda Williams song] --58 inches average annual rainfall; 50 average annual rainy days



The rain in Seattle splashes, burbles, spouts, gushes, mists, pours, pounds, drizzles, sprinkles, and precipitates. Rain is really just the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall, often making it to the surface of our planet. Much of this planet depends on rain for fresh water, both collecting on the surface, and in creeks, rivers, and ponds, as well as recharging the subterranean aquifers and springs that we tap with our wells. In many parts of the world--specifically the arid desert regions--water never even reaches the surface. This phenomena is known as virga. In Seattle, we do not experience virga.

According to the Wikipedia, "The fine particulate matter produced by car exhaust and other human sources of pollution forms cloud condensation nuclei, leads to the production of clouds and increases the likelihood of rain. As commuter and commercial traffic cause pollution to build up over the course of the week, the likelihood of rain increases: it peaks by Saturday, after five days of weekday pollution has been built up. In heavily populated areas that are near the coast, such as the United States' Eastern Seaboard, the effect can be dramatic: there is a 22% higher chance of rain on Saturdays than on Mondays."

I can't determine who came up with the Beaufort rain scale. It's been drifting around the interweb for a long long time now...you can find it in some places with huge lists of recipients, and about twelve carats > in front of every single line.

The Beaufort Rain Scale

Force 0: Complete Dryness. Absence of rain from the air. The gap between two periods of wet. Associated Phrase: "It looks like it might rain."

Force 1: Scotch Mist. Presence of wet in the air, hovering rather than falling. You can feel damp on your face but if you supinate your hand, nothing lands on it. Associated Phrase: "I think it's trying to rain."

Force 2: Individual drops. Individual drops of rain falling, but quite separate as if they are all freelance and not part of the same corporate effort. If switched on now, windscreen wipers make an awful screeching noise. Spectacle wearers begin to grumble. A newspaper being read outside begins to speckle. Associated Phrase: "It's spitting."

Force 3: Fine Rain. Raindrops falling together now, but still invisibly, like the spray which
drifts off a fountain with the wind behind. Ignored by all sportsmen except Test cricketers, who dash for cover. Spectacle wearers walk into oncoming traffic. Windscreen wipers, when switched on, make the windscreen totally opaque. If being read outside, a newspaper gets damp.

Force 4: Visible Light Shower. Hair starts to congeal around ears. First rainwear appears. People start to remember washing left out. Ignored by all sportsmen except Wimbledon players, who dash for cover. A newspaper being read outside starts to tear slightly. Associated Phrases: "It's starting to come down now," "It won't last," and "It's settled in for the day now."

Force 5: Drizzle. Shapes beginning to be visible in rain for the first time, usually drifting from right to left. Windscreen wipers are too slow at slow speed, too fast at fast speed. Shower-proof rainwear turns out to be shower-proof all right, but not drizzle-proof. First damp feeling inside either shoes or neckline. Butterflies take evasive action and begin to fly straight. A newspaper being read in the open starts to turn to pulp.

Force 6: Downpour. You can see raindrops bouncing on impact, like charter planes landing. Leaves and petals recoil when hit. Anything built of concrete begins to look nasty. Eyebrows become waterlogged. Horse racing called off. Wet feeling rises above ankles and starts for knees. Butterflies fly backwards. A newspaper being read in the open divides into two. Gardeners watering the flowers begin to think about packing it in.

Force 7: Squally, Gusty Rain. As Force 6, but with added wind. Water starts to be forced up your nostrils. Maniacs leave home and head for the motorway in their cars. Butterflies start walking. Household cats and dogs become unpleasant to handle. Cheaper clothes start to come to bits. Associated Phrases: "It's pissing down now," and "There's some madman out in the garden trying to read a newspaper."

Force 8: Torrential Rain. The whole world outside has been turned into an en suite douche. It starts raining inside umbrellas. Windscreen wipers become useless. The ground looks as if it is steaming. Butterflies drown. Your garments start merging into each other and becoming indistinguishable. Man reading newspaper in the open starts to disintegrate. All team games except rugby, football, and water polo called off. Associated Phrase: "Jesus, will you look at that coming down."

Force 9: Cloudburst. Rain so fierce that it can only be maintained for a minute or two. Drops so large that they hurt if they hit you. Water gets into your pockets and forms rock-pools. Windscreen wipers are torn off cars. Too wet for water-skiing. Instantaneous rivers form on roads, and man reading newspaper floats past. Rain runs up windows.

Force 10: Hurricane. Not defined inland - the symptoms are too violent and extreme (cars floating, newspaper readers lost at sea, people drowned by inhaling rain, etc.). So, if hurricane conditions do appear to pertain, look for some other explanation.
---o0o---

Monday, March 23, 2015

Stunning 16 mm home movie of Seattle shot in 1955 (includes amazing aerial island and mountain footage)

Film shot by "Jeff Altman's Grandfather"

"In 1955 my grandfather made a trip to Seattle, WA during his time with the Naval Air Reserve. He brought his 16mm camera along and captured these great images."


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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Space Needle workers are told to "live on less"

By Jack Brummet

In lieu of a raise, workers at Seattle's Space Needle were given a "webinar" on how to live on less. The webinar was emailed to Space Needle workers last month.  Unite Here 8 is the union for Space Needle workers. The union says the last raise for employees was a 35-cent raise four years ago.  You can see the webinar here.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Photograph: A Georgetown local at the bar

By Jack Brummet, Seattle Neighborhoods Ed.

A longtime local resident KeeKee and I met in a bar in Georgetown, Seattle.

click to enlarge

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Friday, October 17, 2014

Seattle mechanaphile has had sex with 700 cars

By Mona Goldwater, Social Mores Ed.




A story in The Mirror provides details of Edward Smith's love life as a mechanaphile:

"A man who has had sex with over 700 cars has revealed how he had his first physical experience of car love with a Volkswagen Beetle.
"Edward Smith, 63, told Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden on This Morning how he was “tempted one night to step outside” to make love to the neighbour’s car as a young teen, having first become attracted to cars in 1965.



". . .Edward is sexually attracted to machines – and as well as having sex with cars, has also had a relationship with a helicopter and planes, claiming they are all better than women. 
“I began an interest in the beauty of cars when I was turning just 15 years of age,” revealed Edward, from Washington in the US.  Go here to read the entire article in The Mirror and see the brief video clip (SFW more or less).
---o0o---

Sunday, October 05, 2014

The paddle ball sculpture at Big Fish Games in Seattle

By Jack Brummet

I was at Big Fish Games for a meeting today.  The last time I was there must have been nearly ten years ago, when they were still pretty much in startup mode. Wow. Things have changed.  Really impressive offices.   The paddle ball sculpture in the parking lot was created by the artist Catherine Mayer in 2011.  

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Thursday, September 18, 2014

The semi-drizzle of Seattle

By Jack Brummet


I've been loving the rain in Seattle tonight. Actually, it's not rain, but a notch below a drizzle and a couple of slots below a sprinkle. . .that misting, intermittent precipitation where you can almost count the raindrops. In the rain hierarchy, something between Defcon 4 and 5, where DefCon 5 is maybe a light fog.  (A friend wrote to me: That's the rain I loved when I lived in Seattle and have missed ever since. Never happens in Spokane).
---o0o---

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Well, slap my ass and call me Sally. The City Attorney of Seattle was one of the first people in line to buy leaf today.

By Jack Brummet, Seattle Metro Ed.


It is fascinating that the city attorney, Pete Holmes, of Seattle was in line to buy reefer at the Cannabis City opening today.

“I bought 2-2 gram bags of OG Pearl which was recommended,” said Holmes. “I’m keeping one bag for posterity and one for personal enjoyment at some point when it’s appropriate.”

Man, things have changed.  I didn't expect I'd ever live to see this.  Despite all the chaos, I hope it all works out.

You can find more detail and more from Pete Holmes here.
---o0o---


Saturday, March 22, 2014

JCBSUP? (Jesus Christ Built Seattle Under Protest)

by Jack Brummet, Seattle Metro Ed.


JCBSUP, a/k/a "Jesus Christ Built Seattle Under Protest" is a mnemonic allegedly used by taxi drivers to remember the order of Seattle streets in the downtown core, kind of from Pioneer Square up to Belltown.  You don't hear it so much now (I'm guessing because everyone has a map in their pocket on their "device."  The streets, south to north are:  Jefferson-->James-->Cherry-->Columbia-->Marion-->Madison-->Spring--> Seneca-->University-->Union-->Pike-->Pine.
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Thursday, March 20, 2014

The end of the line for Tubs, a Seattle graffiti landmark

By Jack Brummet, Public Arts Editor



I'm going to miss this place. I know people are really divided on graffiti, but after living in NYC five years, my time in Bogota and Cartagena Colombia, The Mission in San Francisco, and even in Russia, I have come to feel that, in general, it improves far more than it detracts. Is it art? Of course it is; it's just not the art that might be hanging in your aunt's living room. Adios Tubs

We've known it was on the chopping block for seven years.  Yes, many/most people considered it urban blight; I always thought of it as an ever-changing and wonderful "eyesore."

Tubs, the amazing graffiti sandbox, has finally been demolished, after years of sitting idle, and many years as an ever-evolving and changing canvas for local spray paint artists.  After the hot tub club Tubs closed in 2007, it was scheduled for demolition.  Finally, seven years later, they actually did expunge it from the face of the earth.

We are sad to see it go, since we know it will either be replaced by a strip mall, or the dreaded condo development with bottom floor retail.  It was good while it lasted.  Fare thee well Tubs! On a conceptual continuity note, I went hot tubbing there a couple of times in the 80's, and it was great.  By the time of its closure, it had become a notoriously skeezy hotbed of lord knows what. . .

We wrote this piece and took some photos on our last visit to the site, on January 2, 2012.

In March 2009 The Free Sheep Foundation (I think these are the same guys who liberated the Bridge Motel on Aurora) occupied the Tubs building in Seattle's U District, which has been "slated for demolition" for a couple of years now.  It's become an wonderfully and continually changing canvas for whatever artist or tagger shows up.  Early on, people were outraged by all the painting, but over time, it has become a popular stopping by point.  I think every neighborhood needs a building like this. 

I like what you've done with the place.

I always stop by when I am in the neighborhood, but have never seen anyone at work.  I think they only come out at night?  I believe there is some kind of loophole in Seattle's graffiti law, in which "the authorities" are unable to do anything about the artistic improvements to this long abandoned building.

If you're interested, there is a Flickr group that continually posts photos as the building evolves.  I took these seven photos on January 2, 2012.






---o0o---

Friday, February 07, 2014

Sign from Seattle's now defunct Funhouse club


This is the sign from the Funhouse, a club located across the street from The Space Needle. It closed earlier this year.

Photo courtesy of Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Ballard Cedar mill, Seattle, 1919

By Mona Goldwater, Seattle History Ed.

Photo from the Seattle Museum of History & Industry 

The Seattle Cedar mill, just west of the Ballard Bridge, was the largest sawmill in Ballard. Logs were cut into lumber and then dried for nine months before being sold. The stacks of drying lumber were at least 50 feet high.
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Friday, December 06, 2013

The Fremont Rocket

By Jack Brummet, Start-up Ed.

I've been looking for office space, and today looked at one in the heart of Fremont--on the block with The Rocket. . .






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Saturday, October 12, 2013

Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition forestry building, circa 1909 in Seattle

By Jack Brummet, NW History Ed.


The Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition forestry building, from the exposition held in Seattle in 1909.




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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Thunder and lightning in Seattle

By Jack Brummet


Midnight, Friday:  What a great lightning storm tonightfrom giant balls to hydra-limbed bolts raining down, and sometimes looking like they were shooting up*from*, and not to, earth [1]. The lightning dances across the sky and I hear the muffled, slow-rolling thunder circle in the clouds overhead, and I'm swallowed up in the soft percussion of the warm falling rain.

[1] Someone just told me that lightning goes both up AND down.
---o0o---

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

The Lake of Fire: a very short tale

By Jack Brummet [source: unknown]


A man died and found himself in limbo, waiting in a long line for judgment.

The man saw that some souls were allowed to march right through the pearly gates. Others were led over to Satan, who threw them into a lake of fire. Every so often, instead of hurling a condemned soul into the lake of fire, Satan would toss him or her off to one side.

After watching Satan do this several times, the men's curiosity got the better of him. He strolled over The Great Deceiver.

"Excuse me, there, Your Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting in line for judgment, and I couldn't help wondering why you toss some people off to the side instead of flinging them into the fires of hell with the others?"

"Ah," Satan said with a grin. "Those people are from Seattle. I'm just letting them dry out so they'll burn."
---o0o---